Abstract:
Objective To study the effects of biochar addition on soil aggregate distribution, stability and crop yield in irrigated wheat fields, and to clarify the response of soil and crops to biochar fertilizer cultivation, this study provided a theoretical basis for soil structure improvement and establishment of reasonable fertilizer cultivation system in irrigated wheat fields.
Methods The experiment adopted split plot design, nitrogen (N) application was set at two levels of 0 and 150 N kg hm−2, and biochar application was set at four levels of 0, 10, 20 and 30 t hm−2 for each N application. Through a 2-year (2018-2020) field located experiment, soil aggregate contents of different grain sizes were obtained by dry screening method. Soil aggregate stability index and spring wheat yield were compared and analyzed.
Result Compared with no biochar addition, biochar addition significantly increased soil aggregate content of > 5 mm and 2-5 mm (P < 0.05), with an increase range of 10.2%-29.2% and 8.3%-10.2%. The average weight diameter and geometric weight diameter of soil aggregates with 20 t hm−2 biochar application increased by 21.4% and 32.3%, respectively, compared with that without biochar application (P < 0.05). The yield increase of spring wheat treated with biochar combined with N fertilizer was better than that treated with biochar alone. There was a significant positive correlation between soil aggregate geometric weight diameter and spring wheat yield
Conclusion Biochar application has a significant effect on the formation and stability of soil aggregates in irrigated wheat fields, which is beneficial to soil improvement and spring wheat yield. Under the experimental conditions, the soil aggregate stability was the highest when the biochar 20 t hm−2 was applied alone, and the yield of spring wheat was the highest when biochar 20 t hm−2 was applied with 150 kg N hm−2, which increased by 42.7% compared with the control.